2011 Nissan Leaf EV: Second Drive Shows First Impression Wasn't Wrong
By John O'Dell October 19, 2010This Time We Test Top Speed and Acceleration - and Pop the Hood
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Got another chance to drive the Nissan Leaf at an event at Nissan North America's headquarters outside of Nashville this week, and picked up a few tidbits we haven't reported before.
Our first drive was back in July, when Nissan brought the first of the U.S.-spec Leafs to California and invited us to spend a few hours with the first modern mass-produced electric vehicle. That resulted in a review, with loads of photos, that you can read here if you didn't catch it back then.
This drive didn't teach me anything new about how the car performs. It's still a delight on the highways and byways, is as quiet as a luxury car and pretty much lives up to Nissan's claim to 100 miles of range it you are driving sensibly in mixed city and highway conditions with more time at city speeds than on the freeway.
Basically, its a good regular Nissan execpt it has no tailpipe and plugs into an electric charger instead of a gas pump.
I finally got the chance to pop the hood and confirmed what I'd heard elsewhere - that the Leaf's electric motor and power controls are packaged and dressed up to look a lot like a typical transverse-mounted four-banger. There's even a 12-volt battery (for accessories).
It was done on purpose to make the under-hood view seem more famliar to customers, said Mark Perry, Nissan North America's director of product planning and advanced tech.
-thumb-425x283.jpg)
Here's a photo - you be the judge.
Besides that, I winkled out of Nissan the estimate that annual maintenance is expected to be less than a third of what it is for a comparatively sized ICE.
That's because theres only one recommended annual service for the Leaf and it consists principally of a battery-pack and brake check, topping off the fluids and rotating the tires. Unless something breaks there's nothing else to do.
Also learned that while Nissan says the top seed is 90, it will go faster (something I wasn't able to test in July).
On an 82-degree Tennessee afternoon, with another writer in the passenger seat, I hit 92 mph on the highway, going up a slight hill all the way. I still felt as though there was a little bit more to go, but lifted my foot at 92 because I thought I spied a state trooper's patrol car way back down the road.
Perry said he was passenger in a Leaf in Michigan a while ago when the driver hit 94 mph.
High-speed highway driving is not friendly to EV range - but the Leaf's range indicator showed 84 miles when we left the Nissan garage with a nearly full battery, and when we got back with 30.4-miles on the odo - my high speed run included - it showed we still had 50 miles left. So we dropped only 3.6 miles during the drive. Not bad.
A few other tidbits:
- Nissan (and we) call the Leaf a compact, but Perry said the EPA is rating it as a mid-size car, putting it into the same size category as the Toyota Prius.
- And, I took one over to an empty parking lot across the street from Nissan's digs for a couple of self-timed acceleration runs. Nissan hasn't released 0-60 figures yet, but we've heard estimates in the range of 8- to 9-seconds. I timed both of my runs - with a digital watch, not a professional setup - at around 7 seconds.
The usual disclaimer: I've reserved a Leaf and am going through the processes leading up to a purchase, so you'd be correct to think I have a bit of bias. My wife and I haven't yet decided whether the family finances will permit us to go ahead and buy it, but yes, I like the car. I also like to think that if Nissan had built a bad car, I'd say so and not be thinking of spendng $33k of my own money on one.
----------
Green Car Advisor attended a Nissan-sponsored event to facilitate this report.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Click here to comment on this entry.John,
Thanks for the continued feedback on the Leaf. With every review I am more eager to have ours in the garage here in W. Sacramento. We can't wait to end our affair with the gas pump and move on to repowering via "clean energy." As a further explanation of that "clean energy" comment....our home solar panels produced 1200kW MORE power last year than our house actually used. In addition I have already gotten PG&E to switch us to the E9 rate schedule which is for EV owners and charges "only" $.06/kW for the midnight to 7 am time window (while we GET from PG&E $.29/kW for the excess production during "high load afternoon times").
George in W. Sacramento
This car is going to be wildly popular for city dwellers. Boston is full of loaded Mini Coopers, 1 series BMW's and Audi A3's so there is no shortage of people who can pony up the 30 grand for the breakthru technology and not loose the tidy, parking friendly package.
A really informative article John. Thank you very much! The only thing is that it is LEAF, not Leaf. It is an acronym.
John, great info on the 0-60 times! I was guessing 8 seconds, so maybe I wasn't too far off.
When it's time to buy the car, I hope you'll consider buying it from me at Santa Monica Nissan! I'll give you a good deal:~)
I've already sold 20 of them, and I just started. This is the easiest thing in the world to sell. I'll also sell you the solar system for your house so you can "drive on sunshine".
"Nissan the estimate that annual maintenance is expected to be less than a third of what it is for a comparatively sized ICE."
I'm always curious where they come up with this stuff. Most of my repair expenses on my older vehicles is suspension and power delivery (wheel bearings, etc), not in the motor itself.
Granted, that's repair and not maintenance. I do think it's misleading though.
From my electric co-op in Georgia (NOT so "plug-n-play" as we'd all like to think!
----------------------
"Knowing how a PEV could affect your monthly energy bill and also what electrical modifications your residence might need is very important" states Blake House, Vice President of Member Services. "We have listed all of the major items, including the rates that are currently available to members for PEV charging", he adds. Sawnee's new PEV web site list the three (3) steps that Sawnee EMC members who are considering purchasing a PEV need to consider. These include selecting your charging location and making sure your home is ready for this new electrical load, selecting your charging rate since this new vehicle will increase your monthly electric bill and some ought needs to be given to "when" you will be charging your new PEV and completing Sawnee's PEV checklist. All three (3) of these actions need to occur before you bring your new PEV home so that you are ready to enjoy your new vehicle.
Having your home PEV ready is a major concern and one that the staff of Sawnee is ready to assist you with. "Making the necessary adjustments to our distribution facilities so that you can charge your PEV may be the last thing on people's minds", says Greg Farr, Vice President of Engineering. The staff of Sawnee EMC has developed a short survey for you to tell us about your PEV plans. This will enable our Marketing Representatives and our Engineering staff to better assist you when the car arrives. In some cases, the electrical panel and meter base at a PEV owner's home will not be adequate to handle this new electrical load and will need to be upgraded. This will take time and may require a County or City electrical inspection. "This is the biggest issue that we are making new PEV owners aware of", adds Farr. "This will take some time and does not need to be the last thing on a person mind when considering a new PEV", he adds.
Then, once you have completed your 'Getting Plug-In Ready Checklist' the next item is discussing the best rate option for your needs. Sawnee EMC will offer three (3) retail rates for PEV charging. "This is one of the biggest decisions that a new PEV owner will make" states Mandy Love, Sawnee EMC Marketing Representative. "A PEV will need to be charged for a number of hours depending on the type of charger used and this additional load at your home will increase your monthly electric bill. Sawnee's staff will be prepared to discuss with PEV owners there options when it comes to retail rates."
To learn more about Sawnee EMC's PEV program, contact us at 770-887-2363 to speak with a Marketing Representative or via email to marketing@sawnee.com. To visit the PEV website, go to http://www.sawnee.com/pev/.
The main caveat with the Nissan Leaf is its range - probably just fine for most people for most of time, but that is not good enough.
As far as the costs go, the Nissan Leaf compares quite favorably to the Chevy Volt.
Anybody interested in costs should check out Befrugal.com's calculator
http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator/
John, there is NO WAY you ran a 7 second 0-60 in this car. We tried twice while we were in Franklin this week and we both pulled a ~10 second 0-60, just as Nissan had told us to expect. Now this was with the TC on, and I dare say we could have lopped another .5 seconds with it off. And maybe got another .5 seconds off with only one person. But I'm calling your claim bogus!
Not that 9-10 seconds is not respectable for a car of this size and weight. It totally is. But you're setting a lot of people up for disappointment with the performance of their LEAF! You're a very bad man!
Very bad man? That's kinda harsh. As I said, it was a seat-of pants timing run, nothing anyone should use for anything but a broad approximation. But in retrospect I should have used a range, rather than a single number, to account for time lost flicking eyeballs from speedo to watch etc. There was certainly no intent to mislead, though. No benefit in doing so. We'll have hard numbers from the test track as soon was we get a Leaf in for testing and we'll let them show whether I ought ever again do my own acceleration runs.
For us, for style purposes, it is Leaf. Writing LEAF every time we mentioned makes the name jump out of the copy, which is jarrign to readers and, frankly, provides Nissan with a shot of free advertising.
OK, yes, "very bad man" is kinda harsh. Best thing, like you say, is to get that puppy on a test track and do it properly. Now where's that smiley face icon?
:-)
Good for Nissan! I understand the function over fashion design but man I will never pull the trigger on a car that is ugly just to run electric or high MPG. http://www.ecarhub.com/usedcarsforsale/used_cars.php
ADD A COMMENT